Prankenstein!
by Frogata
Summary: It's the annual Gathering and Will seems to have a few tricks up his sleeve for Halt... Oneshot. This is my first fanfic. No flames  whatever they are... :P


**A/N: Hi, this is my first fanfic so please be kind. Please! On with the show! Wow, bit long for a oneshot hey?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ranger's Apprentice, nor any of the characters. **

**Summary: It's the annual Gathering and Will seems to have a few tricks up his sleeve for Halt... Oneshot. This is my first fanfic. No flames (whatever they are...)**

**Prankenstein**

Halt gazed at Abelard, his eyebrow raised in his trademark manner. _Great _he thought, _too much time spent around Tug, now all he wants is apples._ He sighed and reluctantly gave his companion half an apple. Abelard looked at him with puppy-dog eyes, but was met with a cold stare as Halt warned him "Don't push your luck." As Halt finished saddling Abelard and headed off for the Gathering Grounds.

* * *

Will had left a week early for the Gathering, to set up all the pranks and surprises for Halt. First off, he had set up a fake trail, covered up the real one, and led the fake trail to a cave full of bats (Will, had unknowingly stumbled upon the fact that Halt has a bat-phobia). Secondly, knowing that Halt would figure this out pretty quickly, he strung carrots all over the trees surrounding a stream that had a small bridge built across it. There was no real reason for it; he just thought it would be funny to see Halt's reaction. Assuming there was one.

Next, he had rigged a rope along several overhanging tree branches above the path, and when pulled, a bunch of about 20 life-sized Gilan dolls would drop in front of Halt. Lastly, Will himself was going to hide up a tree, ready to tackle Halt. The year before, Will was following Halt, who circled back and tackled him off his horse, Tug. _Yep,_ he thought, _this year is going to go smooooothly..._ He hoped it would anyway; he had spent the whole year making Gilan dolls and growing carrots. _And now, we wait..._

* * *

Halt was halfway to the Gathering Grounds when he came to the fake trail, it was quite obviously a fake, but he wanted to see where it went, as it was clearly a bad attempt at a prank. He followed the trail for about 500 meters before he came to the mouth of a huge cave, wet, smelly, dark, and eerily silent. Peering into the cave, he strained his eyes to see movement, eventually resting them on the shape of a bat. He sighed at the pathetic attempt to scare him and walked back to the real path. Will looked with disappointment from the trees as Halt walked off.

Later, Halt came to the little bridge over the stream, his eyes resting on the carrots that hung from the trees. It was pretty strange, worthy of him to raise _**both**_ of his eyebrows. _Who would have the time or the energy to..._ He stopped short as he realised that there was only one person he knew that could have the energy for this. _Will, he is trying again this year, huh? _He sighed and kept moving, which proved to be quite difficult with Abelard constantly reaching out for the carrots. Even a super well trained Ranger horse could find it hard to resist the temptation of so many carrots, all within easy reach...

* * *

Will was sitting up in a tree beside the road, holding the rope that would cause the rag dolls to fall on Halt. He stopped dead still with a smirk spreading across his face as Halt came walking unsuspectedly down the path. Ten steps away... Six steps away... Two... And, BAM! The sharp tug of the rope caused the dolls to fall right on top of Halt. He heard Halt's angry growl and was silently shaking with laughter.

Halt stared down at the dolls. He picked on up and looked at its face. Gilan? Why would there be a bunch of Gilan dolls falling from the trees? Just dolls, he could understand, it would be funny, but _Gilan_ dolls? What was Will thinking? He shrugged away the thought and continued on. Abelard eyed him with a look that said, _Please don't tell me that he is at it again..._ "Unfortunately," Halt replied to his shaggy little pony.

* * *

This was it, the grand finale, the big cheese, the topping on the cake, the filling to one of Jenny's delicious pies... His mouth watered at the thought of Jenny's pies and he realised that he hadn't eaten lunch. Oh well, it would have to wait. He had chosen a spot in the tree just above a big puddle of mud that Halt would have to ride through, so that when he got tackled by Will, he would fall in the mud. That would be sweet...

Will arranged himself in a ready position in the tree just as Halt started to ride through the knee-deep mud. Halt was underneath him when he jumped, arms spread out wide heading straight for Halt. Abelard had sensed him long before he actually jumped and had quietly told Halt about it. Halt, who was ready for it, wheeled Abelard around and caught Will by the collar as he was about to fall into the mud. "What in God's name are you doing Will?" Halt asked, his eyebrow raised.

"I was going to tackle you off of your horse and into the mud!" Will whinged, a grin breaking the effect of the whiny voice. "Just like you did to me!" he added. Halt merely shrugged his shoulders in response, still holding Will about 10 inches from the mud. "I did, find the carrots and the Gilan dolls quite amusing, I have to admit, but why Gilan?" Halt asked, if not a little impressed by the imagination of his old apprentice.

"Because, Gilan is funny!" Will said, almost hysterically, as he started to laugh uncontrollably. Halt cocked his head at Will and decided that this laughter was quite annoying and far too youthful. He released his grip on Will's collar and hid a malicious smile as Will dropped face-first into the mud. Will tried to get up, but the mud was so deep where he was standing that his feet sunk into the mud and he toppled over backwards. He gave up and started to crawl to the dry ground about 3 meters away, grinning at Halt, knowing he had been bested once again.

"Halt?" Will said, "I'm going to give you a new nickname ok?"

"Both of your sentences were questions you know, and no I'm not okay with nicknames, I hate nicknames," Halt replied.

"Well, anyway, I'm going to give you a nickname anyway. You are... Prankenstein!" Will giggled through his words, struggling to get them out, then burst into full blown hysterical laughter, a little too loud than it needed to be.

Halt glared at him, and as Will reached the edge of the mud, Halt picked him up again and threw him back. "Whaaahahahahahaaa! Hey, Halt? Pffffttttahahahaaa! Ahhhhhhhhhhh!" Will gasped out as Halt threw him into the mud again. " You are Prankenstein! I'm going to tell Crowley and Gilan and Lady Pauline and Alyss and Horace and maybe even Old Bob and Baron Arald and King Duncan and the whole Ranger Corps!" Will said accusingly to Halt. Halt gave him a glare that bore into his very soul as he decided that maybe he shouldn't tell all those people about Halt's new nickname.

Well, not ALL of them anyway...

**Yay! Finished my first fanfic! Bit longer than I had first thought, but better than I had expected! Please review, I like to know how people think of it.**

**Frogata, over and out!  
**


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